A mooring line for an oceanographic buoy system is a line that secures a buoy in place in the ocean. The simplest method for a mooring line is to secure one end of a simple rope or cable to the buoy and securing the other end to an anchor or fixed point under the water. Although this is effective under some circumstances, a simple rope or cable for a mooring line will fail under certain ocean conditions.
There are numerous buoy system designs available, but buoy systems can be broadly categorized into surface or subsurface, or a combination of the two. Surface buoy systems are used to secure floating platforms that can be meteorological, as well as oceanographic. Subsurface buoy systems secure instrumentation in place in the water or on the bottom. Buoy systems can also be built to include a combination of surface data collection and subsurface instrumentation integrated into the mooring line. Exemplary studies may include: wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, air and water temperature, solar radiation, rainfall, visibility, etc. Many buoys also measure wave parameters by either wave height or wave direction, or both.
Mooring lines for an oceanographic buoy system come in many different shapes, sizes, and materials. Optimum design of a mooring line for an oceanographic buoy system is dependant on several factors, including functional requirements, water depth, currents, tides, waves, vessel traffic, and fish bite in the vicinity of the oceanographic buoy system.
Current mooring lines for an oceanographic buoy system are made up of many discrete sections of line that may include wire rope and various types of synthetic lines. These lines can either be taut or slack. Taut lines for oceanographic buoy systems have to be made of very elastic material and normally have to be replaced often. Slack lines typically use an ‘inverted catenary’ or ‘S tether’ design. This type of mooring line includes a buoyant section of line, or attached floats, above the anchor to keep the line off the bottom, and top sections that are negatively buoyant, made of wire or a synthetic product. Both of these types of mooring lines may include a synthetic section which stretches, allowing for more durability than a common rope or cable.
There are many problems with the current design of mooring lines for oceanographic buoy systems. Although the current designs are more durable than a simple rope or cable, they still are exposed to constant changes in currents, waves, and other environmental factors, that require these lines to be replaced over frequent periods of time.
Another problem with the current mooring lines is how they are deployed. The current designs of such mooring lines include different sections of line that are not put together until they are deployed. These sections of line are loaded and carried on a vessel on separate wooden or steel reels and the sections are shackled together as the line is played out over the vessel. Buoy systems can be deployed anywhere and at any time in the ocean where the seas can be rough and very unpredictable. This process of shackling the sections of line together is very dangerous in the unpredictable seas and can lead to injuries and loss of equipment.
The instant invention is designed to address these problems.